This disclosure relates generally to a flexible pipe, and, more particularly, to a flexible pipe having overlapping layers.
It is well known to provide flexible pipes that consist of a inner tubular member over which is wrapped one or more layers of flexible material to improve the strength and performance characteristics of the pipe. However, many of these prior devices suffer from one or more problems. For example, gaps are often formed between the wrapped sections of one or more of the layers through which the inner tube member can extrude. A common method used to avoid this problem is to bond the layers-to the tube and to each other which prohibits independent movement of the layers in response to stresses on the pipe. Typically, these bonded pipes have a fairly short life when used in dynamic service because of the stresses between layers that tend to separate the pipe layers.
Therefore, what is needed is a flexible pipe formed by a plurality of wrapped layers which avoids the above problems.